T20 World Cup | IND vs SCO: 'Dominant' India ease past Scotland but semi-final spot still in jeopardy

Twitter goes berserk as KL Rahul hits fastest fifty in T20 World Cup 2021 to anchor India to victory

It was a classy day for the Indian cricket team in Dubai as they ticked all boxes with bat and ball and won the match against Scotland, chasing the target of 86 in just 38 balls, when they needed to chase it down in less than 43 balls. The chase now means that the Indian team has got over Afghanistan and New Zealand in the net-run rate scenario, giving themselves a chance to qualify for the semi-finals when and if Afghanistan beat New Zealand in their last Super 12 match on November 07. To get the chase done, it was KL Rahul with his classic knock that got the ball rolling. It wasn’t just classic, but it was something that has never been seen before from Rahul in international cricket at such a big stage. He hit the fifty in just 18 balls, the fastest in this year’s T20 World Cup and the second fasted in any T20 World Cup for an Indian, the fastest is with Yuvraj Singh who hit it in 12 balls against England. In his knock of 50 runs, the 29-year-old hit six fours and three sixes, before being undone by Mark Watt. As an opening partnership with Rohit Sharma, he added 70 for the first wicket in just 30 balls. India’s 82 is now also the highest total in the powerplay in this World Cup. After this game, India would now move to play against Namibia on Monday, November 08.

T20 World Cup | Australia eager for semi-final spot, West Indies seek farewell for finest generation

The buildup The T20 World Cup has thrown up a lot of anti-climax in this edition and it’s because of those unexpected results that when Australia and West Indies will take on each other on possibly the final day that matters for Group 1 of the tournament, it’s only the Australians, who are still the race to advance to the next stage. At the start of the T20 World Cup, there was widespread consensus that the quad of England, West Indies, India and Pakistan were the firm favourites to qualify for the semi-finals. 26 games deeper into the tournament, the tables have been turned, and how? West Indies have been feeble and have allowed the other two sides such as South Africa and Australia to knock on the qualifying door. It’s quite fitting that the two opponents who started the Super 12 round of the battle on October 23 are the two sides to fight a desperate battle for one final spot from the group. England are through to the semi-finals and while South Africa have to go past England challenge to become the frontrunner in the race, the Australians have to give the defending champions a resounding exit from the tournament to seal their place in the final four. They have not been a consistent side in bilateral series over the last many years, but have found firepower in old horses and new edge in the experienced bowling department. Their seam bowlers are bowling hard lengths that make life tough for batsmen while the swing bowler is finding appreciable swing in the air along with the leg spinner Adam Zampa fiding enough rip off the surface to keep Australia going in the middle phase. Their form has not been consistent in the tournament and have suffered hammering by their arch-rivals England, but they can be forgiven for not losing the plot completely and coming back with a bang after each setback. On the other side of the fence, West Indies have been found it extremely tough to stay relevant in the tournament. They started off their defence of the title with the same old tactic of trying to hit many sixes off the park but soon adapted to trying to score enough runs to give bowlers chance. However, none of those worked so far and they are on their way back home before making it to the semi-finals and their exit will mark an unceremonious end of an era of West Indies when they rued the format and show across the world. There can not be any argument on what West Indies have been for the development and flourishing of the T20 format across the format and it shows in their two-time championship. But, as the format has suggested so many times, it asks teams to adapt on time to time basis and it’s that point where Windies have found wanting and exposed at the world stage. Match details Australia vs West Indies, Match no.: 38, Super 12 Group 1 Date & Time: November 06, 02:00 PM LOCAL, 03:30 IST Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Pitch details South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada had bowled with fire and extracted pace and bounce out of the surface at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in the last day game at the venue against Bangladesh. Australia have a hit-the-deck bowler in Josh Hazlewood and in-form Mitchell Starc to unleash on an underconfident and tentative Windies batting lineup. Windies have only Oshane Thomas in their lineup to play fire with fire in the pace bowling department but unlikely they will go that route against the Australians. The pitch should offer plenty of carry for the pacers and Australians will be confident of their chances against the Windies. Team News Australia The success of Adam Zampa has given Australia an unprecedented edge in the bowling department and they are looking like a bowling attack that covers all the base. They finally did not heed attention to reputation and brought Mitchell Marsh to number three in place of Steve Smith. The former captain is unlikely to get his position back unless Australia suffer an early wicket and having Marsh early on against the new ball give them the opportunity to attack from the word go. They dropped Ashton Agar from the team and banked on the trio of Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell to share four overs between them and the move is likely to continue in the final Super 12 game as well. Probable XI David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood West Indies Chris Gayle has had a terrible tournament with the bat and won’t find too much support if the Windies axe him from the playing XI except on emotional grounds as the game could well be his final game in Windies colours. While the experienced pros such as Dwayne Bravo, Gayle, and Kieron Pollard have been off their mark with the bat, the young duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran, whom the current skipper Pollard has projected as the future of West Indies cricket have not boosted their cases either. Windies have nothing to lose in this game and they are most likely to play with tier signature approach and if they come good, Australia might be chasing the ball for longer than they would like to. Probable XI Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Kieron Pollard (C), Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul CE Fantasy XI Nicholas Pooran, David Warner, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Glenn Maxwell, Akeal Hosein, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa Captain: Aaron Finch Vice-captain: Glenn Maxwell

SMAT 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad continues form, Assam cause early upset

The second day of the on-going Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy witnessed some brilliant performances and some turnarounds during the course. While Assam caused an early upset in the tournament against Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Odisha were involved in a nail biter. Here is a look at some of the highlights from the day’s proceedings. Assam vs Gujarat Assam were involved in a huge upset in the SMAT 2021 after they thumped Gujarat by 7 wickets in Delhi on Friday. Batting first, Gujarat were bundled out for 89 in the final over. Mukhtar Hussain was the pick of the bowlers for Assam after he returned with figures of 3/20 in 4 overs. Later, Assam lost three wickets but managed to chase down the target in 13.1 overs. Tamil Nadu vs Odisha Tamil Nadu and Odisha were involved in a nail-biter but the Jagadeesan-led side stole away a win eventually by just 1 run. Batting first, Tamil Nadu put 165/5 in 20 overs after Aparajith top scored with an unbeaten 44 in 20 deliveries. Later, Odisha lost a couple of early wickets but Subhranshu Senapati’s 67 and a 21-ball 38* from Abhishek Raut kept the side in the game till the end but missed to go over the line by a whisker as Odisha were restricted to 164/6 in 20 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad continues form Maharashtra’s Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his form in the T20 format after he struck second fifty on the trot in the on-going SMAT against Punjab. Gaikwad notched up 80 runs in 54 deliveries that included three maximums and 8 fours during the course to help his side chase down a target of 138 runs by 7 wickets in less than 18 overs. Earlier, in the day, Shubman Gill was also among some runs for his side as he scored a 39-ball 44. Rahane’s important half-century Mumbai were back on track after they comprehensively defeated Services by 17 runs in Guwahati on Friday. Captain Ajinkya Rahane scored a well-compiled 54 off 44 which involved four maximums and three fours to help the side put 154/7 in 20 overs. Later, Mumbai bowlers did the job and restricted Services to 137/7 in 20 overs despite a 49-ball 64 from Rajat Paliwal. Ashwin Hebbar’s ton In a high-scoring encounter between Andhra and Haryana, Ashwin Hebbar struck a fine century as he remained unbeaten at 103 off 53 deliveries to help the side put a formidable total of 179/4 in 20 overs against Haryana in Vadodara on Friday. But the total wasn’t really enough as Haryana rode on some brilliant batting from Himanshu Rana (52 off 30), Shivam Chauhan (45* off 27) and Rahul Tewatia (46* off 25) to chase down the target by 6 wickets and in 17.5 overs. Avesh Khan’s bowling display, Venkatesh Iyer’s all-round show Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Avesh Khan and Venkatesh Iyer rattled the Railways side to restrict them to 97/9 in 16 overs. Avesh scalped three wickets for 23 runs in 4 overs while Iyer picked up a couple at the cost of 20 runs in three overs. Later, Iyer scored 50* off 41 balls and anchored the side to a win by 7 wickets in 13.5 overs. Tamil Nadu are at the top in Elite Group A with 8 points, Bengal are sitting at the helm in Elite Group B with 8 points, Haryana are in front in the Elite Group C with 8 points, Madhya Pradesh are the table-toppers in Elite Group D with 8 points, Hyderabad also have 8 points and presently rank first in Elite Group E while Vidarbha are leading in Plate with 8 points.

T20 World Cup | Mohammad Shami on a roll as India pick team hat-trick, bundle out Scotland for 85

Indian fast bowler Mohammad Shami was on a roll today as he dismissed two players with two yorkers on the first and third ball of his third over, while yet another batter was run out after the ball hit his pads and he tried to scamper a single on the second ball of the same over. This meant that the Indian team picked a team hattrick and brought Scotland from 81-6 to 81-9. The Scots eventually got all-out on 85 as Jasprit Bumrah took out Mark Watt with a perfect yorker in the 18th over. With just 86 to get, the Indian team would look to chase down the total in less than or equal to 43 balls to get their net run rate above Afghanistan and New Zealand. Earlier in the evening, Virat Kohli won the toss for the first time in this series and decided to bowl first. Scotland were cautious initially but Bumrah broke through in the third over and got the Scot skipper Kyle Coetzer. Post that wicket kept falling regularly and they were reduced to 29-4. Michael Leask and Calum MacLeod tried to build a partnership but Ravindra Jadeja was too good for them to counter. Eventually, with the help of Jadeja’s 3-15, Shami’s 3-15, Bumrah’s 2-10 and Ravichandran Ashwin’s 1-29 India managed to get the opposition all out. George Munsey top-scored with 24 for the men in purple. Courtesy of the two wickets, Bumrah has now become the leading wicket-taker in T20Is for India. He overtook Yuzvendara Chahal, who has 63 wickets n 38 innings. Bumrah now has 64 wickets in 52 innings.